Army Corp News

The United States’ vast network of navigable inland rivers is vital to the nation’s economy, serving as an aquatic superhighway for the efficient shipment of critical commodities like agricultural goods, energy products, building materials and industrial chemicals to destinations within the U.S. and to deepwater ports for export. The Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI), which advocates for a modern, efficient and well-maintained inland waterways, often describes the network as “the…

Hornblower Energy LLC, in partnership with the Port of San Franciso, the U.S. Department of Energy and six corporate partners, including Air Liquide and Glosten, is leading a project to demonstrate the feasibility and viability of using hydrogen (H2) as a maritime fuel.The project is located at Pier 68 in San Francisco. DOE selected the project for funding in 2020. It’s supposed to be completed in 2025 but there are important decision dates before then. So far, project activities have concentrated on planning and modeling.

Earlier this week, Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro along with U.S. Representatives Rob Menendez and Mikie Sherrill visited to Bayonne Dry Dock & Repair Corp. (BDD).As the U.S. places renewed emphasis on navy shipbuilding and ship repair, the SECNAV has made it a point to visit to naval bases, shipyards, depots, training ranges, tarmacs, and runways worldwide to witnessed firsthand the progress being made toward improving training, readiness, and modernization of the fleet and force.BDD has provided repair services to vessels ranging from small tugboats to U.S.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. (ESG) on Friday launched the R.B. Weeks, the second trailing suction hopper dredge the Florida shipbuilder has constructed for Weeks Marine, Inc.The R.B. Weeks is named in honor of Richard B. Weeks, a co-founder of Weeks Marine and married to Magdalen Weeks, the namesake of the sister vessel Magdalen, built by Eastern and delivered in 2017.The new 356-foot trailing suction hopper dredge is being constructed at ESG’s Allanton Shipyard and has a hopper capacity of 8,550 cubic yards. The vessel outfitting and trials will be conducted at Eastern’s Port St.

Richard Balzano took over as CEO and executive director of the Dredging Contractors of America in December 2020. And while he says he’s “still fairly new to the [dredging] industry”, he certainly knows his way around the business, having held a number of prominent roles over the course of more than 30 years in the maritime and U.S government sectors. His resume is impressive. A combat veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, he retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Captain. He later served as the presidentially appointed Deputy Maritime Administrator for three years…

Floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) may not immediately spring to mind as providing a solution to several of today’s key global challenges – but FNPP development is emerging as a means of decentralized stand-alone production of cost competitive hydrogen-based fuels and clean electricity and water, according to a new report by Intelatus Global Partners.The commercial case for deployment of FNPPs featuring small modular reactors is founded in the growing demand for hydrogen and…

As the novel coronavirus and its impacts continue to spread across America, U.S. shipbuilders, by and large, continue to build. While most yards have been deemed essential to marine transportation and/or national security and have been able to maintain operations, the situation at and around every shipyard is different, and there are several builders across the country that have had to temporarily suspend activity. In either scenario, it’s far from business as usual for America’s…

Moda Midstream LLC is considering building a second berth at its Ingleside, Texas, crude export terminal to accommodate booming shale oil production on the Gulf Coast, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.The expansion to the terminal that loads oil tankers will come as three major pipelines open in the second half of 2019, CEO Bo McCall said in an interview. Moda is also increasing the facility's crude storage capacity to 10 million barrels from 2 million."When these new pipelines come online…

Booming U.S. oil exports have set off a scramble to build Gulf Coast ports to handle more than 3 million barrels per day in new supplies expected over the next five years.Of seven proposed oil-export projects, nowhere is the opportunity greater or the competition more fierce than in Corpus Christi, Texas, where three firms are vying to open the state's first deepwater port.Commodities trader Trafigura has taken an early lead with a planned offshore facility that has an easier…

Drug interdiction. Crew transport in hostile waters. Law enforcement. Rescue operations. Passenger vessels. Today’s MultiMission Vessels (MMVs) are a diverse collection of workboats characterized by adaptable platforms, customized with standard accessories.A larger budget for electronics and multiple, smart, navigational screens and MDTs challenge the interior configuration of already crowded MMVs, increasingly built with matching FEMA port security grant funds for joint venture operations.More monohull patrol vessels monitor illegal fishing…

After more than 30 years of frustratingly slow progress, cost overruns and more than a few mistakes, Olmsted is finally poised for success. That’s something to celebrate.It is official: The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) wants Olmsted operational by October. After more than 30 years, the ribbon cutting to officially open the Olmsted Locks and Dam took place on August 30. The very old (1929) upstream locks and dams – Nos. 52 and 53, which Olmsted is replacing – will be dismantled by December 2020. Before that happens, Olmsted’s performance will be tested and confirmed.

On February 12, President Trump released his highly anticipated infrastructure proposal, a “Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America.” Unlike prior federal infrastructure development strategies, which rarely discussed the need for maritime infrastructure investment, the proposal places maritime infrastructure on equal footing with other surface transportation modes in terms of potential funding opportunities. The outline contains proposals that would create three new major programs…

The St. Marys River is closed to commercial vessels from the Soo Locks to 6 Mile Point, after a 629-foot U.S. cargo ship ran aground on the north side of Sugar Island, Wednesday, at about 11:40 p.m. The merchant vessel, Calumet, departed Essar Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and was transiting downbound on the St. Marys River to its next port of call in Brevort, Mich., when it ran aground. The vessel was not carrying any cargo. There was no pollution, and no injuries have been reported. The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring the vessel, and the U.S.

As the Central Ohio River Business Association (CORBA) pushes commerce on the Ohio River, stakeholders are beginning to take notice. On January 19, in an office tower overlooking the Ohio River, Eric Thomas convened the first meeting of 2017 for a business group working in the 13th largest port in the U.S.: the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (PCNK). Thomas serves as the Executive Director of CORBA – the Central Ohio River Business Association. PCNK’s high rank is likely a surprise to many.

There exist serious flaws in U.S. infrastructure funding practices that hinder the maintenance and improvement of American ports and harbors, according to a new report, “Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund: Broken or Misused?” released by the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii). “Insufficient funding is a constant issue for large-scale infrastructure projects, but the shortfall in harbor funding is particularly problematic since waterborne cargo shippers pay an excise tax specifically aimed at solving this problem…

Suntex Marinas, an owner and operator of marina properties, announced today the acquisition of State Dock Marina on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. Built to be a best-in-class resort accommodating visitors from every part of the nation, State Dock Marina allows guests to experience a destination known as ‘The World-Capital of House-Boating.’ State Dock has garnered a reputation for excellence over the past decade under the leadership of Bill Jasper and Suntex will continue to invest in the physical assets of the facility, as well as new boats, amenities and events to expand and enhance the overall customer experience. “This has been an incredible period of explosive growth for the Suntex portfolio,” said Chris Petty, Principal of Suntex Marinas.

A recommended $73 million plan to deepen the Redwood City Harbor and San Bruno Shoal channels, the navigation corridors essential for commerce and the Port of Redwood City, has been issued  in draft by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' San Francisco District. The port is conducting a public hearing on what is called the "Redwood City Navigation Improvement Project" August 10 at 7 p.m. at Redwood City Hall to allow public comment and recommendations on the project's Draft Feasibility Study and Environment Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report.

Coast Guard members and local agencies responded to a fishing vessel taking on water with two people aboard west of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay Wednesday afternoon. At 1:28 p.m., Coast Guard Station Golden Gate watchstanders received a VHF-FM radio transmission on channel 16 from a person aboard a 49-foot fishing vessel taking on water. Two rescue boatcrews were launched from Station Golden Gate, and marine units were dispatched from San Francisco Fire, Tiburon Fire and Richmond Fire departments. Personnel from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers vessel, Racoon, also responded. “The rapid response by multiple agencies ensured help was on scene within minutes,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Whitlow, boatswain’s mate at Station Golden Gate.

The Shearer Group and Conrad Shipyard collaborate on an ABS approved LNG Towboat Design. What happens next could change inland shipping forever. The December announcement that Conrad Shipyard, L.L.C. and The Shearer Group, Inc. (TSGI) had worked together to develop the design of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) powered 4,200 horsepower towboat utilizing a proven TSGI design was, perhaps, exciting enough on its own merits. That the team had also been awarded an “Approval in Principle” (AIP) by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design was especially significant for the nation’s inland waterfront. Packing clean LNG power into an inland towboat was no easy task. And yet, the potential for the concept to blossom in this largely fixed, point-to-point market is very real.

The US Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Hawaii Pacific, has closed ports for Big Island, Maui County to include the islands of Molokai and Lanai, and Oahu to all traffic. According to a News Release issued, all cargo operations at these ports were to be secured by 6pm yesterday. Vessels transiting within the vicinity of the Hawaiian Island harbours are urged to seek sheltered waters until storm conditions subside and the Captain of the Port has deemed the ports safe to reopen. Once the storm has passed and the threat of severe weather has subsided, the Coast Guard, Army Corp of Engineers and State of Hawaii will jointly conduct surveys of channel blockage and prioritize steps to resume essential, then normal, vessel traffic.

The Great Lakes Towing Company came to the aid of the United States Coast Guard Monday night in the St. Marys River just two miles east of the U.S. Coast Guard Station, Sector Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. The 140-foot Bay-class Icebreaking Tug Katmai Bay (WTGB 101) was dead in the icy waters and required towing assistance to its homeport dock. Around 10:45pm Monday night, The Towing Company Tug Missouri was dispatched to break ice and assist the USCGC Katmai Bay back to its dock two hours later. The Tug Missouri is also homeported in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan to assist vessels through the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers locks and to provide emergency rescue assistance and icebreaking when needed. The locks connect Lake Superior to Lake Huron.

The Great Lakes Towing Company says it has been extremely busy providing icebreaking assistance, and Great Lakes Shipyard has started repairs and maintenance on Interlake Steamship vessels, with more vessels contracted to follow. Recently, the 140-foot USCG Bay-class Icebreaking Tug Katmai Bay (WTGB 101) was dead in the icy waters and required towing assistance to its homeport dock, and the towing company's tug Missouri was dispatched to break ice and assist it back to its dock. The Missouri is also homeported in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan to assist vessels through the U.S.

Steelways, Inc. announced the departure of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Crane Barge, Snag Barge 1401. Snag Barge 1401, a heavy duty crane barge built by Steelways Inc. in Newburgh, N.Y. for the Army Corp of Engineers for work on the Mississippi River, measures 200’ long by 50’ wide by 9’ high, and  is equipped with a 42,000 gallon fuel tank, 18,000 gallon potable water tank, six ballast tanks and a 1,110 square foot deckhouse. The vessel is also outfitted with fuel, lube oil…